In re the Estate of Appleby

Foley, S.

The motion for a trial by jury of the issues created by the claim of Sonia Greenova as the common-law wife of the testator is denied in the exercise of the discretion of the surrogate and as a matter of law. (Matter of Cook, 244 N. Y. 63; Matter of Erlanger, 136 Misc. 784; affd., 229 App. Div. 778.) The petitioner is not entitled as a matter of constitutional right to a trial by jury. To enable the petitioner to exercise the right of election given to a surviving spouse under section 18 of the Decedent Estate Law, to take against the will, she must first establish that she is the…